Something That Bugs Me

Stuff you need to know before you read this part of the post:
1. Michael and I take a multi-vitamin with dinner every day.
2. We usually eat dinner around 8:00.
3. Our typical bed time is about 10:30.
4. I have been off of caffeine of any kind (except for chocolate) for almost two years.
5. I'm really sensitive to caffeine, even when it's part of my usual pattern. Even when I was drinking things with caffeine, I limited myself to one such beverage a day. Even that could give the the jitters if I wasn't careful.

The story:
Last time I ran out of multi-vitamins, apparently so did every woman in Seattle. The grocery store where I usually shop was out of my usual (One-A-Day Women's Health formula), but in the space next to the empty spot on the shelf was a package called One-A-Day Weight Smart. I don't know a single woman who doesn't want to be weight smart. I grabbed a package, deciding it would do to replace my usual. It's a multi-vitamin in the health food section of the store--must be good for me. Or so one would think.

Over the past week, I'd been noticing that I'd been having a lot of trouble falling asleep at our usual bed time. I just wasn't sleepy. I should have been. I went back to work after spring break this week, and it was a surprisingly busy first week back. Still, I tossed and turned and wondered what was going on. I wracked my brain for any change to my routine that might be keeping me awake. I should also mention that I was waking up in the morning groggy, with a splitting headache.

Finally, last night, as we were fixing dinner, I turned to Michael and said, "I wonder if it's the vitamins. That's the only change I can think of. Maybe there's something in them that I shouldn't have before bed time."

Michael picked up the bottle and squinted at the tiny label. His eyes widened, "The fourth ingredient on the list is caffeine! These things are full of it! You've got to stop taking these."

So, here's a consumer warning: avoid One-A-Day Weight Smart if you're sensitive to caffeine. The product is not clearly labeled, and it does not say up front that it contains caffeine. They ought to put that fact in bold print somewhere on the front of the package! I find it absolutely ridiculous that it's being marketed as a health food!

At any rate, I didn't take any last night, and imagine this: I slept just fine, and I didn't wake up with a headache.

Happy Easter!

Hope, Peter, and Michael Dye Easter Eggs
Originally uploaded by Prairie Brown

We started the day with a little bit of spring cleaning--Michael was actually inspired and cleaned most of the apartment all by himself!

This afternoon, Hope and Peter came over for an Easter egg dying party. We dyed eggs, had snacks, and laughed at our rather meager artistic abilities as we attempted to paint our eggs. Michael took pictures of all the eggs, so expect those pictures to appear on his page sometime in the near future. (There are more pictures of our party up on my Flickr page as well.)

Michael and I fixed the traditional Easter ham dinner, and we're just about to sit down to chocolate eclair cake and a movie. It's been a really great Easter!

I hope the Easter Bunny was good to everyone this year!

Spring Break!

This past week, I've been on spring break. I originally didn't have all that much planned, but I did want to go to Vancouver for a few days to be with my family. Last weekend, I spend three days with my mom and Kima. We went on several little shopping trips and celebrated Kima's birthday.

This past week was also finals week for Michael (drawbacks to being on different school schedules). He spent a lot of the week studying, but we've been enjoying the luxury of both of us being home at the same time. This hardly ever happens when both of us are in session. His last final was yesterday morning, and after the test, we hit Blockbuster, rented a stack of movies, and came home to unwind.

This morning, after sleeping in as late as we wanted (8:30--silly school schedule!), we headed Downtown, which we hadn't done for a long time. We had breakfast at one of my favorite bakeries in the Pike Place Market, then headed to the Seattle Art Museum (SAM) to see the Roman exhibit that's there on loan from the Louvre. The artwork was absolutely amazing! Most of it was statuary, various portraits of emperors and their wives. I pointed out to Michael that he has a strong resemblance to a couple of the early emperors--he must have some Roman ancestors.

We still have one day of my break left. Tomorrow we're going to dye Easter eggs!

Tummy Troubles

Michael woke up at about 2:00 this morning feeling sick to his stomach. He spent the next five hours alternating between the bathroom floor and the guest bed (closer to the bathroom). For the first time since I've known him, he agreed he was too sick to go to work, and let me call in sick for him. He never registers a fever, even when he admits he's feeling sick, so it worried me quite a bit when the thermometer read 100 degrees this morning.

Fortunately, the worst seems to have passed. A shower brought the fever down a bit. He's been able to keep down water and apple juice, and he just managed to eat some Jello and half a piece of bread. He's taking a nap now, and when he gets up I'll see if I can convince him to try some chicken broth.

Now, if only I can avoid catching this...